PERC 2012 Abstract Detail Page

We explore the relationship between students' motivation for learning and their performance in introductory physics. On a survey given at the beginning of an introductory mechanics course, some students selected "learning and gaining knowledge" from a list of possible values as one of their primary values, and then explained why this was important to them. Their explanations reveal that some of the students possess an instrinsic motivation for learning, while others have an extrinsic motivation, valuing learning because it leads to other things. Students whose motivation for learning is intrinsic scored higher on tests and earned higher grades than those whose motivation is extrinsic.